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HomeSportsAPSU Basketball adds forward Averyl Ugba to 2017-2018 squad

APSU Basketball adds forward Averyl Ugba to 2017-2018 squad

APSU Sports Information

APSU Men's BasketballClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University head men’s basketball coach Matt Figger has added another transfer with Division I experience, bringing 2017 first-team All-Southwestern Athletic Conference honoree Averyl Ugba into the fold.

Ugba was one of the SWAC’s dominant talents a year ago for Grambling State, nearly averaging a double-double for the season with 13.0 ppg to go along with a league-best 9.7 rebounds per contest.

Austin Peay head coach Matt Figger brings in Grambling State forward Averyl Ugba for upcoming season.
Austin Peay head coach Matt Figger brings in Grambling State forward Averyl Ugba for upcoming season.

He finished third in the league in shooting (141-for-254, 55.5 percent) and eighth in blocked shots, (22, 0.7/g), leading Grambling State to a 10-8 league record and an appearance in the SWAC Tournament semifinals.

The Silver Spring, Maryland native posted 12 double-doubles during the 2016-17 campaign, including a 26-point, 20-board effort in the season’s fourth game, against UT Rio Grande Valley.

He earned SWAC Player of the Week honors with 22 points and 14.5 rebounds for the week of February 10th, pouring in 26 points and grabbing 17 boards against Southern and following that with 18 points and 12 rebounds against Alcorn State.

Prior to his time at Grambling State, Ugba was an NJCAA Division II National Champion at Richard Bland College in 2014-15, earning Second-Team All-Region X as a sophomore after averaging 13.9 points on 58.3 percent shooting to go with 10.5 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per contest. He led the way with 16 points and 13 boards in the National Championship game against John Wood Community College and had 26 points and 17 rebounds in the double-overtime semifinal thriller against Phoenix College to take tournament Most Outstanding Player honors.

Although he made just eight starts as a freshman at Richard Bland, Ugba’s prowess on the glass was no less. In addition to 11.2 points in 18.4 minutes per game, largely as a reserve, Ugba averaged 9.2 rebounds per game, which ranked 23rd in NJCAA Division II, and was fifth in the nation in shooting (106-for-161, 65.8 percent).

“He’s a guy who has proven he can average double-digit rebounds and double-digit points in Division I basketball,” Figger said. “That is something that I don’t have right now. Knowing he’s done it at this level gives us a big-time shot in the arm.”

Ugba is part of a new-look Governors squad which features just four returners and has seen Figger and his staff reinvent the program in their image. Ugba is the fifth player Figger has brought into the fold: Ivan Cucak (Don Bosco [Ind.] Prep; Toronto, Canada), Deyshawn Martin (Chipola College; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Ed Stephens (South Carolina State; Columbia, South Carolina) and Dayton Gumm (22 Feet Academy; Bowling Green, Kentucky). That quintet joins fall signees Terry Taylor (Bowling Green High School; Bowling Green, Kentucky) and Richard Henderson (Pattonville High School; Maryland Heights, Missouri).

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